


Ice Cream Party

by name_me_regret



Series: June Summer Prompt Challenge [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Harley Keener is a mess, June Summer Prompt Challenge, M/M, Ned Is a Good Bro, Prompt 13 & 1, Tumblr Prompt, peter parker is a hot mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 20:31:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19070137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/name_me_regret/pseuds/name_me_regret
Summary: Peter is at a high school party, with an ice cream bar... and his crush, Harley Keener is there. Only, Harley doesn’t seem to like Peter. What’s he to do? Duh, babble nervously!Or: a lot of awkwardness and misunderstandings between Peter and Harley.





	Ice Cream Party

**Author's Note:**

> So, I’m having writer’s block for He Keeps Him Scared, and Martian Child. So, I thought writing about something else would help! So, this is my solution! The [June Summer Prompt Challenge](https://m-e-tello.tumblr.com/post/185278413112/june-summer-challenge-so-i-decided-to-do-this)!
> 
> This is also a belated birthday present for Tom! Happy birthday to Tom Holland, who plays the best version of my OTP (One True Person), Peter Parker!

**Ice Cream Party**

_**Prompts:**_  
1: Fireworks; ice cream/snow cones; misunderstandings  
13: Music; dancing; awkward moments

\- - - -

 _ “Say what you want til you come around _  
_ Can't fall apart, Stick to the sound_  
_ Waiting for the right moment  
Say what you want, it won't bring me down _

 _ Some folks come by it slowly _  
_ Some folks come by it hard_  
_ Some folks still come by it easy  
Whatever way I wish you'd drop by my door...”_

~Fresh Hallows, Hallovvs

\- - - -

Peter sighed, glancing around at the other teenagers. They were all laughing and dancing, some gyrating and grinding against one another that he had to look away. He didn’t know why he’d let Ned convince him that this was a good idea to come to the party, and it was a party at Eugene ‘Flash’ Thomson’s house. The two teens had never gotten along ever since their first class together where Flash had raised his hand, gotten the answer wrong, and then Peter had raised his hand and he had gotten it right. The other had given him an angry look, and Peter had avoided his gaze. It was a recurring theme in each of their classes over the years.

His eyebrows rose as he saw a very familiar face, lifting a hand. “Harley!” he called, a smile already forming on his features. Mr. Stark had brought the taller teenager to the shop, telling him that he was going to be part of the intern program. Peter had greeted the other, who had just mumbled a greeting before wandering off to work my himself in the corner.

“Don’t take it too personal,” Tony had told him when he’d noticed Peter’s slumped shoulders. “He’s dealing with some things.” He didn’t elaborate, and Peter didn’t ask, since he’d assumed it had something to do with the Snap. The only thing he did know was that Harley would be staying with Tony until he graduated from high school, acting as his temporary guardian until he reached the age of eighteen. While the idea of being the quasi-adopted son of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, was a thrilling thought for Peter, he could tell that Harley wasn’t too pleased by the whole situation.

Then he’d been told that he would start going to his school, and it had been another thrilling thing for Peter, since that meant a new potential friend. He was friends with Ned and MJ, but that didn’t count since she sat away from them as she read and hardly interacted with them. So, possibly having a new friend in Harley was a nice thought, and they worked together in the lab... sorta. Mostly Harley did his own thing.

Now, being in the same party as the taller boy made it a good opportunity to talk outside of school or the labs at SI. After all, they had different schedules, and he hardly saw him in school. It had to do with what you wanted to study, since Harley wanted to be a mechanical engineer, and Peter was leaning more toward chemistry and biology, possibly with a minor in physics. Harley had joined the robotics club, and Peter had been tempted to rejoin, but didn’t want to seem too obvious. Ned was still in the club and told him how good Harley was at building robots and what might or might not have been a potato gun. He also said that Harley was a pretty laid back kind of guy, and thought he hardly smiled, he was funny when he loosened up.

So, Peter was anxious to talk with him and maybe become friends. So, when he saw him at the party, he called out his name and waved at him. The other lifted his eyes when he heard someone call his name, spotted Peter, gave a small wave and turned to disappear into the crowd. It was hard to miss him though, being taller than the rest of those gathered, and his shaggy, blonde hair a beacon in the crowd.

Peter shrank back, his enthusiasm leaving him as he was blown off and the suspicious that Harley had been avoiding him started to come back tenfold. Sure, they were always working during lab days, but the other seemed to only mumble an answer when Peter asked him something. He’d thought that’s how he was, until one day he’d been running late from patrol and he’d come in to hear laughter he didn’t recognize, and realized it was Harley laughing about something with Tony. He was sassy and animated, and Peter had found himself watching him like a creeper before he’d snapped out it it. When Peter had walked in, Harley had clammed up and retreated back to his side of the lab as Tony had shaken his head with an exasperated face.

Peter made the excuse that maybe he just didn’t know how to talk to people his age. Tony had told Peter he was from a small town. Also, that there were hardly any kids his age that matched his level of intelligence, and thus was a bit of an outcast.

But, Ned had told him he was easy going and got along with the others. He didn’t talk much at first, but when he got to know everyone, he really got going. It was the same as Peter had thought, he was sassy and smart, and he helped the others when they asked it. Now, it led him to believe that it wasn’t that he was shy or didn’t know how to talk to people his own age. Harley just didn’t want to talk to Peter.

He sighed as he leaned against the wall he’d been in before, trying to look as small as possible as his shoulders hunched down. Peter nursed the Coke he’d managed to snag, after sniffing it to make sure there was no liquor in it. His senses were so good that he didn’t really need to really sniff it to know though. The only times his senses went a bit wacky was when he was around Harley.

When he’d first entered into the lab; Peter was surprised how good-looking he was. He’d felt his cheeks heat up and a buzzing in his ears like they were stuffed up that he was freaking out a bit, but hoped it didn’t show too much as he had greeted the other with a smile. Harley had looked back at him with a perfectly blank look before mumbling a greeting and retreating.

Peter wondered what had happened, since he had literally just said, “Hi, I’m Peter! Nice to meet you!” There was nothing more, no insulting his intelligence, and he’d even given him his best smile. So, Peter didn’t understand what he’d done wrong!

Ned came over then, smiling as he held a cup of coke. “Hey, Peter, why’re you hiding in the corner? Dude, Flash’s parents bought a whole bar for ice cream! You should go get some before it’s all gone.”

He let his friend drag him toward the aforementioned ice cream bar, and wondered why there was an ice cream bar in a high school party. It was a bit weird, but not weird enough that he didn’t want ice cream.

The bar sat in the back corner with a few kids milling around, licking at ice cream cones. Peter was about to go when he saw that Harley was at the end of the line, and he hesitated. “Dude, What’re you doing?”

“Harley... I don’t think he likes me very much,” he admitted to his friend, motioning to the taller teen. He hateed that the other didn’t like him, since he _really_ liked Harley. The other was good-looking, he was smart and when Peter wasn’t around he had enough snark and sassiness to keep up with Tony. Pete was holding the biggest crush on the other boy, and he was disappointed that he didn’t even seem to want to be his friend.

Ned frowned. “What’re you talking about? I mean, did he say that?”

The other shook his head. “No, but he never speaks to me when we’re working in the labs, and right now he just basically blew me off.”

“Did he ignore you?”

Peter frowned, and slowly shook his head. “Uh, no... he waved a bit, and then lost himself in the crowd.” He thought back to the times they’d interacted, and remembered that he had never outright ignored him, just awkwardly said something before moving off, or like just now, waved and then walked away.

Ned shrugged. “I told you, he doesn’t talk much at first... a bit awkward, but when you get to know him, he let’s loose.” He motioned toward the line before he was pulled away by Betty. “See ya, Pete!” he laughed.

He smiled as he watched his friend with Betty, glad that he was having a good time. Betty and him were good together and was happy for him. It must have happened during the Snap, where Peter along with several billion people had disintegrated into dust for almost four months. Between Tony and Shuri, they’d managed to invent time travel after Scott Lang had given them the idea. He’d appeared when someone had found his van and accidentally triggered the machine while they were moving it, spitting him out of the quantum realm.

In those four months, the survivors had banned together to save the planet, clearing the air of all the dust that had once been people. Also, saving the crops of farmers that had disappeared mid-harvest, keeping nuclear plants from going critical because workers had disappeared mid-shift. Or saving airline cruisers where the pilot’s had disappeared mid-flight, leaving hundreds of people in danger in mid-air.

Peter imagined that’s when Ned and Betty had gotten close, where MJ had started dating a fellow volunteer that went to a nearby high school in Queens. He was happy for them, but at times it felt like he’d been left behind. Also, not to mention that he had to catch up on four months of school work that he was sure would take up most of his approaching summer vacations.

He’d hoped that he and Harley could connect with that, since he’d also gotten snapped. He’d found out a month after he’d come to live with Tony that his family had been killed when an unmanned bus had hit their small Honda. He hadn’t meant to overhear, but he couldn’t help if with his super-hearing. So, at least he’d known why Tony was his guardian, but Harley didn’t know he was Spider-Man, so he couldn’t tell he’d overheard him from the other side of the lab while he talked to Tony about his mom and sister.

Peter inhaled and decided to just go over there, so he weaved through the crowd and planted himself behind the taller boy. It was just three inches of height difference, but Peter was conscious of those three inches. He reached out a hesitant hand and tapped the other, who turned with a confused expression before he saw Peter, his face closing off.

“Hey, Harley,” he greeted, deciding not to let this stop him from talking to him. He just... had to keep talking to him, and if there was one thing Peter was good at, it was nervous babble. “Can you believe that there’s an ice cream bar at a high school party? I mean, who does that?! But still, I love ice cream so it’s not that bad. It’s great, actually!” He grinned up at the other. “What’s your favorite flavor? I love rocky road even if Ned says it’s too crazy with nuts and marshmallows, but dude! I love it!”

Harley’s face had relaxed a bit during Peter’s babbling, and a hint of a mile had appeared on his features. “I like mint chocolate,” he murmured. He laughed a bit at Peter’s appalled face.

“Really? That’s like eating ice cream with toothpaste!”

By that point they’d gotten to the bar and ordered their respective ice creams, two scoops of mint chocolate for Harley and two scoops of rocky road for Peter. Peter was happy when Harley didn’t disappear back into the crowd. They went to an unused alcove of the house as they observed the others dancing, some with drinks in their hands, and others with half-eaten ice cream cones. It was so ridiculous that Peter found himself giggling at the absurdity of it all, and then he realized that Harley was also laughing.

Then he was leaning toward him and Peter felt his breath hitch in his throat a moment before cold lips pressed to his own.

Peter thinks there might even even be fireworks at Flash’s party, or they could be in his head. At that point, he’s not really too sure about anything except the cute boy kissing him, tasting the mint chocolate on his tongue when he pressed it between his slightly parted lips. Peter might have dropped his ice cream cone, but he doesn’t really care, because he really _really_ likes the taste of mint chocolate now.

He later learned that Harley had felt guilty for liking Peter while his family was gone. He’d been struggling with it, talking with his therapist that Tony had insisted he to see, since Tony said he was shit with emotions. She’d got him to see that his family wouldn’t want him to put his life on hold, that they’d want him to move on and be happy. So, he’d gone to the party he knew Peter would be at, but had chickened out when he saw Peter. Then Peter has come and talked to him, which had given him the courage to kiss the other, and Peter had kissed back!

Well, Peter learned this later. For the moment, he was more concerned with kissing Harley.

 

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think? Liked it? Hated it? Let me know! And check out the challenge on tumblr [here](https://m-e-tello.tumblr.com/post/185278413112/june-summer-challenge-so-i-decided-to-do-this).


End file.
